Tips for Removing Ashes from a Wood Stove

It’s becoming more and more popular to heat residential homes by burning firewood in a wood stove. This method is cost effective and simple, but buying wood from a firewood supplier in Utah and burning it clean are not the only steps involved in the wood burning process. It’s also important to know how to maintain your wood stove to keep your home safe and comfortable.

One of the most frustrating parts of wood stove maintenance for homeowners is keeping it clean. Wood ash needs to be removed from the stove on a routine basis to provide the best possible atmosphere for your fires and to keep the stove operating safely.

When to clean your stove’s ashes

Most homeowners are unsure of when it’s appropriate to scoop the ashes out of their wood stoves. While it’s important to remove ash regularly, you also should leave a small amount of ash in the bottom for burning.

Typically, you’ll want to leave one to two inches of ash at the bottom of your stove. If more ash accumulates, you should scoop out the excess. It’s not advisable to remove the ashes every time you build a fire. Leaving some ash in the base of your stove will help you build and maintain the new fire by keeping the stove warm.

The problem with cleaning wood stoves

Finding the right cleaning schedule can be difficult enough, but another challenge wood stove owners experience is cleaning the ash out without making a mess in their living rooms. Removing wood ash from a stove can be difficult because it tends to make a spill onto your floor and fill your room with dust.

Fortunately, there are a few easy ways to accomplish this without making a mess of your living room.

If you use the standard shovel and bucket method, you may need to pay more attention to how carefully you scoop the ashes. The first step in this process is to clean at the right time. Choose to clean your stove after the fire has burned down and a few coals are left. Using a poker and protective gloves, slide the coals toward the front of the stove so you can reach the ash in the back. By raking your ashes when the stove is still somewhat warm, the chimney draft can help suck dust back into the stove while you’re removing ash.

Place a small bucket next to the stove’s opening to collect any spillage. Using a shovel, scoop the ashes and place them gently in the bucket. The trick here is to not dump the ashes, but put the shovel near the bucket’s base and let the ashes slide off slowly. This will minimize the risk of dust puffing into the air.

Another way you can minimize dust is by purchasing an ash scoop. Instead of being open like a shovel, this device has a lid to enclose the ashes while it’s in the stove. These scoops are a little more expensive, but typically last a long time and are effective at minimizing the mess.

A clean fire starts with great wood

Remember that the secret to a clean and long-lasting wood stove lies both in maintenance and burning quality wood. Visit Huberwoods, a firewood supplier in Utah, to select wood logs to meet your fireplace needs.

Categorised in: Firewood Supplier

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